RARE 297 Steakhouse — Restaurant in Pittsfield

Unfortunately, I fear this is yet another experiment at the ill-fated Hotel on North space that is destined to fail. As it is just starting out, RARE 297 still has time to correct some major flaws, but I suspect it's mostly the underlying conception that is the problem, rather than the shaky execution we experienced.

Many folks who live in the Berkshires would agree there is demand for a decent steakhouse in the region. And although RARE 297 does check that box, it does so with some glaring oversights.

Let's begin with the steak, since that's the main attraction. These are unquestionably good cuts of meat that are competently prepared. But that's really where the praise ends. Unlike many higher-end steakhouses, we don't know where the meat comes from, how the cattle were raised, or how they were fed or finished. Usually, at these prices ($50 a serving and up) this information is loudly announced on the website and menu -- especially in communities where there is at least some awareness of food quality, healthfulness, and sustainability. But not at RARE 297, where we can only guess at why these cuts of beef have the spongy consistency and understated flavor that they do. Definitely grain-fed and not grass-finished, that's for sure. What we do know is that this restaurant seems to believe serving up these steaks all by themselves on a white plate is somehow saying...something?

The sides, which are all provided at an additional cost, are similarly simple and direct in their ingredients and presentation. But here, the execution is more seriously flawed. Baked potatoes arrive with rock-hard butter perched atop a potato that has not been fully reheated. Likewise, a comically small number of steak fries are stacked in a square, with parmesan grated haphazardly over them, perhaps in hopes of distracting customers from the meager portion. And so on. These sides don't just lack creativity, they actually approach silliness in how poorly they are conceived and executed.

The seafood and pasta, on the other hand, are a surprising strong suit for this restaurant. In fact they are about the same quality and variety you would find at RJ's just down the road, and just as nicely prepared. There are also some very nice "raw" seafood options that are quite tasty. The only exception to this bright spot is the sushi. The sashimi my wife and I ordered was actually exceptionally bad -- it didn't look or taste like hamachi, had the grainy consistency of aging walleye, and was cut into two tiny pieces that were all but buried in pickled seaweed.

Another plus is the wine list. It's interesting, with some very nice choices. It would be nicer, however, if the quality of the food could pair with the quality of those wines.

There were some other disappointments, such as poorly trained staff who did not know the menu or seemingly anything about food preparation, and who -- despite the fact that we were only one of two tables seated for dinner -- could not manage to refill our water or check in on our needs throughout the meal. This is not unexpected in the opening weeks of any new restaurant in the Berkshires, but it added to the underwhelming experience.

Now there are folks who will say to themselves: "I'm sure that must have been a really good meal...I mean, we just spent $250 for the two of us after all, and we didn't even get dessert!" And perhaps there are enough eager patrons in the area -- or who visit during the tourist season -- that simply don't know any better, and who will keep RARE 297 going for a...

I have had excellent experiences in RJ's in Pittsfield many times. I was ho[ing to duplicate the same feelings at Rare 297. Unfortunately I chose Valentine's Day for my first try and I have to admit it was far less than stellar. We arrived a few minutes early for a 7PM reservation to a rather long line of people ahead of us, all of whom had reservations for either 7PM or even 6:45PM. It seemed that a reasonable attempt was being made to made to seat everyone. Although it did take a good 20-25 minutes we did get seated. The table we got was directly across from the bar with my seat positioned so I could stare at the totally inappropriate TV screen showing sports. My original thought was that the place was a higher end type than it proved to be. A visually screaming TV of 70" or so in size is NOT appropriate for a place of this calibre. TV's in places like this are completely out of place, although I'll admit that my age may have something to do with my opinion. That said, we were quickly waited on by a nice young lady by the name or Rachel. She quickly took our drink order and it seemed like we were on our way to a lovely is somewhat frenetic evening. Unfortunately or cocktails took well over 20 minutes to arrive. The bar staff seemed to be concerned with the people seated at the bar more than the making of the drinks for the tables. In the interim Rachel took our food order. When our cocktails finally did arrive my martini was rather warm, although I can give that to the hectic pace and I simply took some ice from my water glass to chill it. However my wife ordered a Cosmopolitan that seems to her to be not much more than vodka and Hawaiian Punch. We dismissed it and moved on. It was now closing in on 8PM for our 7PM reservations and we had barely gotten our drinks. We did get our appetizers which were quite tasty but the pace of the food delivery was far from rapid.

The food was excellent on the overall and our waitress was extremely accommodating and apologetic for the delays, but from our perspective the evening was overbooked by a good 20-25% and that isn't even taking into consideration the Door Dash meals that were getting taken care of in the middle of everything else.

Desert and coffee were equally delicious and Rachel was also as accommodating as she could be. We do plan another visit at a more quiet time to get the full experience, but had we never experienced RJ's for a comparison I seriously doubt we'd ever go back. I know that Valentines Day is not a fair time to judge a place, but as people "over 60" who are originally from the NY Metro area we do have experiences with all sorts of places and understand there are certain things to overlook on nights like V-day. Last night was a tad over the top with snafus. And knowing the owners experiences themselves with the NY Restaurant scene we found it even...

Two separate visits. First one on a Saturday night. They were super busy. After 15-20 mins of wait on the table with our reservation. We just left feeling disappointed without being served or acknowledged. We felt the price on the menu VS the service definitely did not match.

Second time visit was after a bunch of friends insisted to go try this new establishment in town so I gave it a second chance on a Wednesday night.

It was way less crowded. We were acknowledged right away from door to seat. Staff were very friendly, attentive and quickly we were all seated with water and menus and introductions of the restaurant.

We have a party of 10 people. All ordered drinks and appetizer plus food.

Drinks were relatively slow to come but they do taste amazing. You can tell Bartender made her effort to make sure we all had good drinks. Appetizers were delicious especially the crab cake and sushi rolls. Calamari was a bit too greasy but overall great taste.

Our server was very helpful on all of our requests and accommodated us professionally. She made a few small mistakes I am sure it was bcz the background noise made her forgot who got what kind of drinks. But that was not our concern at all. We totally understand and appreciate her efforts.

Now it comes to main fish. All steaks, fish meals , side dishes were matching the price we paid for those items. But we all have the same thoughts once we see the plates they used to serve food.

Maybe it is the lighting we had. We would like to suggest that Rare297 to change their plates for steaks: a bigger plate instead of salad type of plate. And a more bright colored plate instead dark grey or brown. Bcz it really did not show the dimensions of the amazing food on the plate.

As for background music playlist.

I do believe a longer list of songs will be more fun instead of hearing the same 6 songs over and over and over for the 3 hours of our time there.

Overall. Second time visit was way better than my first time. And I will recommend to friends and colleagues and go back again for the massive list of main dishes that I...